Jonny Brownlee: Triathlete suffers pre-Olympic injury setback

Jonny Brownlee won the triathlon bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics

British triathlete and Olympic bronze medallist Jonny Brownlee has suffered a stress fracture in his left leg.

The injury could delay his possible selection for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016.

Brownlee, 25, hopes to return before 2016 but is likely to miss some key events, including the Rio test event on 2 August and the World Triathlon Grand Final in Chicago from 15-20 September.

He said: "I'm not going to rush it because next year is a big year."

Brendan Purcell, British Triathlon performance director, said: "It's a huge blow to Jonny to get injured at this point in the season."

Winning a medal at the Rio test event and the World Triathlon Grand Final gives athletes the opportunity to earn early selection for Brazil, 2016.

Brownlee is targeting Chicago for a possible comeback but missing Rio would leave the Yorkshireman needing to perform well in next season's selection race to book his spot on the Great Britain Olympic triathlon team.

World Triathlon Series schedule

Date

Venue

Winner

7 March

Abu Dhabi

Mario Mola

29 March

Auckland

Jonathan Brownlee

11 April

Gold Coast

Jonathan Brownlee

25-26 April

Cape Town

Alistair Brownlee

16 May

Yokohama

Javier Gomez

31 May

London

Alistair Brownlee

18-19 July

Hamburg

22-23 August

Stockholm

5-6 September

Edmonton

15-20 September

Chicago - Grand Final

The 2012 world champion, who won two of the first three world series events this year, added: "I'm obviously very disappointed. I raced really well in Auckland and the Gold Coast, and then was unlucky in London, so I was looking forward to a strong second half of the season.

"I need to focus on my rehab in the first instance and then gradually get back into some training."